2023 NBA Playoffs Best Picks & Parlay Today: Back 76ers & Nuggets in 2-Leg Parlay Monday

NBA Parlay Today – May 1, 2023

OddsJam’s NBA expert dives into his top NBA picks with a two-leg parlay for Monday’s slate of NBA games. Find out what he’s targeting below!

Leg 1: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Pick: 76ers +9 | -105 at DraftKings

7:30 p.m. ET

For the first leg of Monday’s playoff parlay, we head to the Eastern Conference, where the 76ers and Celtics will be meeting up in Boston for the first game of their second round series. The Celtics are heavily favored here (by nine points), due in part to their home court advantage and in part to the 76ers missing Joel Embiid, who has a knee injury that the Sixers are trying to be quiet about.

While the Celtics are heavily favored, I think it’s going to be closer than the books suggest. After sweeping their first round series, the Sixers have had a full week of rest, whereas Boston has only had a few days of it. Beyond that, the Sixers still have James Harden, an All-NBA caliber player and one of the best offensive guards we’ve seen in the modern era.

I’m not taking Harden to take the series on his own by any means, but with Embiid out, I do still think he’ll be able to help the 76ers cover the spread against a Celtics team that looked pretty average against the Hawks.

Leg 2: Phoenix Suns vs. Denver Nuggets Pick: Nuggets -5 | +105 at DraftKings

10 p.m. ET

For the second leg of Monday’s parlay, we head to Denver for Game 2 of Suns/Nuggets. I talked about this one at length in today’s daily prediction article, so I won’t repeat too much of what I noted there.

In short, this game (and this series) is going to come down to what version of Deandre Ayton shows up. If the Ayton from the 2021 playoffs touches the court, the Suns have a chance of evening up this series and keeping it competitive. If the Ayton from the past year shows up, the Nuggets might finish this in four or five games.

I lean towards the latter, as Ayton has shown me nothing this year to think he can combat the offensive brilliance of Nikola Jokic. I’m taking the Nuggets -5.

Today’s NBA Parlay

• 1st Leg Pick: 76ers +9 | -105 at DraftKings
• 2nd Leg Pick: Nuggets -5 | +105 at DraftKings
• Total Odds: +300 at DraftKings